A place to find out more about football and the girls who play it in Australia

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Westfield W-League Round 10 review

Well, what can I say? WOW! Didn't that kind of live-up to expectations as a cracking final round?

To start off with Sydney FC lived-up to their more impressive team on paper and claimed a 1-0 win over the Central Coast Mariners to take the league championship title. It's the first-time Sydney FC have been on top of the table this season. Then Brisbane Roar found itself some much needed form by putting six goals past Newcastle and set-up what will be an interesting semi-final against the Mariners.
And then, well then the night really started to get interesting.

Adelaide United really pushed Canberra United in Canberra, but a goal from a corner just before half-time and then a strong-finishing Canberra scored two in the last four minutes so that a 3-0 win kept their finals chances alive. But they had to hold their breath for almost four hours as they waited, and waited, and waited to see what the result between Perth and Melbourne would be. Thanks to the live gameday tracker at thewomensgame.com, (thanks Ann!), I was paying close attention. Then when Lisa de Vanna scored in the 81st minute, well, amazing for Canberra, how heart-breaking for Melbourne. But the strategy of playing de Vanna off the bench paid major dividends. Katie Gill then sealed Perth's win and Canberra's finals spot with her goal in the 87th minute.

But I think most importantly, I think that the fourth finals spot came down to goal difference and then Perth were just one-point behind that, it shows that across the league there is more depth this year. Because next week I think either Melbourne or Perth, well particulary Perth now they have Katie Gill, could have been just as capable of causing an upset as Canberra United.